contamination

[kuhn-tam-uh-ney-shuhn]

noun

1. the act of contaminating, or of making something impure or unsuitable by contact with something unclean, bad, etc.

2. the act of contaminating, or of rendering something harmful or unusable by the addition of radioactive material.

   the contamination of food following a nuclear attack.

3. the state of being contaminated.

   The manufacturer recalled the product because of possible salmonella contamination.

4. Rare.,  something that contaminates a place or substance, as by making it impure, unsuitable, harmful, or unusable; a contaminant.

5. Linguistics.

   1. an alternation in a linguistic form due to the influence of a related form, as the replacement in English of earlier femelle with female through the influence of male.

   2. the process of forming blends.

contamination

/ kənˌtæmɪˈneɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of contaminating or the state of being contaminated

2. something that contaminates

3. linguistics the process by which one word or phrase is altered because of mistaken associations with another word or phrase; for example, the substitution of irregardless for regardless by association with such words as irrespective

Other Word Forms

• noncontamination noun
• recontamination noun
• self-contamination noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of contamination¹

1375–1425; late Middle English contaminacioun < Late Latin contāminātiōn- (stem of contāminātiō ), equivalent to contāmināt ( us ) ( contaminate ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

Bahrami noted that tantalum stands out because it is extremely durable and can withstand the harsh cleaning used to remove contamination during fabrication.

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The contamination had reached far beyond the area surrounding the Chernobyl reactor; radioactive isotopes had also spread across Europe.

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In November 2024, a Navy contractor was grinding asphalt on the site — a construction project that, while unrelated to the site’s historical contamination, triggered the Navy to monitor for any air quality issues.

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“You mean there might be radioactive contamination in that rain out there right now?”

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This entire process unfolds quickly -- within just one to two million years -- and takes place before any supernova explosions occur, preventing contamination of the cluster's gas by supernova material.

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Related Words

• contagion 
• corruption 
• disease 
• epidemic 
• infection 
• poisoning 
• pollution